The recent property revaluation process for some properties on Johnson’s Island has been completed by the county. As there might be some confusion regarding the process, below is recent correspondence Don Sauber of the Ottawa County Auditor’s Office:
Here is “…a brief overview of the final stages of the revaluation process.
For the 2012 revaluation process, we were charged with the reappraisal of the entire county. All areas of the county were reappraised….all neighborhoods on the island were reappraised. Regarding the purpose for all of the neighborhoods; it is an attempt to combine homogenous properties into economic groups where the sales within each, typically give us statistically reasonable market indications…..we then adjust accordingly.
We finished the reappraisal in late May and sent the values to the state for their tentative approval….We received that approval in late June or early July. After receiving state approval we prepared and sent the value notifications to announce the informal hearing process….this was done to provide the previous and tentative future values…. so the property owner could see the change…..up or down.
This informal period is a time where we could discuss the values informally and make changes to the physical data where appropriate and gather information about values and sales within each neighborhood..…this process was held from late August to September 21st. After we ended the process we had to analyze all of the data collected…..during this process we found that there were some areas that were in need of adjustment. Neighborhood 067 was adjusted slightly more than was necessary during the initial revaluation process…therefore, changes were made to reduce the amount of increase….there was still an increase but it was only slight.
It may be the language, but the overall process is called the reappraisal, some property owners may have thought the adjustments made on 067 constituted a reappraisal for the entire island, assuming we were reappraising all Johnson Island neighborhoods…..possibly, not fully comprehending that process had been accomplished before the notices were sent…..in reality, after we gathered the informal data, it was carefully reviewed, then the areas of the county where the data supported changes they were adjusted….again, up or down.
Then finally, after the review and changes we had to submit the values to the state again for final approval….they approved the final values in November. Once the final approval is received, to change or challenge the value the owner must file a formal complaint with the Ottawa County Board of Revision…..presenting them with evidence the supports a value reduction.
If there is anything further we can do to help in explaining or clarifying the process please let us know. “
Don Sauber
Ottawa County Auditor’s Office
4419-734-6865